The Sky is Not the Limit
by gmstone1998
Summary: A little story of the famous youtuber SkyDoesMinecraft and his friends from Team Crafted (plus more!).
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Hello all! The name's Nicki. This is a little story that I originally made for the enjoyment of my kid sister, but figured I'd put it on here for the heck of it. It is kinda like a parody of SkyDoesMinecraft and friends, if you didn't get that from the title. It is still in progress, and I change my mind about certain elements constantly, so what you read is not completely set and stone. I hope you all enjoy!**

**Prologue**

Sky gazed out at his expansive stone castle from a balcony. The enormous building jut into the sky, appropriately; it was all his, and he had built it himself. Off in the distance, he could just make out another structure; his trusted friend and ally Tyler's mansion. And glancing up at the clear night sky, he could see the moon, with a large base on it. That was the home of his other close friend, the space explorer Jason. The three of them had gone through thick and thin together to protect the peace in this world they all lived in, called Minecraft.

Sky fingered at the golden amulet around his neck. It shimmered when monsters appeared, like his arch-enemies, the squids. With their square, blue bodies and eight tentacles, what could be more menacing? The squids had been out to get him from the very beginning, but as to why, he didn't know. All he did know was that all squids were leagued against him and his friends, and it was his duty to lead them into battle.

Sky typically wore the same thing; all black clothes, black shades, red shoes, and a blue cape. As an independent adult of 21, he felt that it would take too much work to plan out a different outfit every day, when he could be using his time for mining or practicing his parkour skills.

A squeak from behind him made him jump. It was Jason's pet, a bat named Dylan, wearing a space helmet.

"Hey little dude, got some mail for me?" Dylan handed him a letter, and promptly flew back into the starlit night. Sky ripped open the envelope.

_ Sky,_

_ I've been watching your neck of the woods from my telescope, and I'll just come out and say it; you've got company. There's been a high amount of squid activity by the river near your castle, so you might want to check it out. I'll be heading down there soon for an oxygen refill, so call if you need any help!_

_ -MU_

'MU' stood for Minecraft Universe, Jason's code name. All three of them had made fake names for themselves, like Tyler, who sometimes went by Deadlox. Sky's real name was Adam, but they preferred to call him Sky anyway.

Sky sighed, and turned to go into the vault. "I guess I'll call Ty in the meantime." As he sorted through his boxes, he dialed his phone.

"What's up Sky?"

"Squid situation. You willing to back me up on this?"

"Yeah, I'll be right over!" The phone clicked, and Sky found the chest with his swords. He had made many weapons in the past, including multiple diamond swords, but one shined brightest as his most prized possession; his budder sword. He only took it with him if he knew he'd be fighting off a multitude of squids-budder is strong and powerful against squids but breaks easily-so he settled for an iron sword for now. He then quickly left his castle and waited for his friend to arrive in the forest. The only sounds that were heard were the moans of some wayward zombies, but that didn't concern him at the moment.

"Dang squids, made me come out here in the middle of the night..." Sky grumbled, leaning against a tree.

"What are you griping about this time?" Ty asked, emerging from the forest with his usual outfit; a white t-shirt, gray pants and black shoes. His brown hair hung down over one of his eyes, and his typical microphone headset was casually propped on his head. Ty was one of Sky's first and closest friends, and extremely talented at parkour.

"Nothing. You ready? This will just be a quick scan of the water."

"It'd better be. We need to meet Jason out by the spaceship landing pad in the morning. He says that he's got a situation to talk to us about."

The two trudged along towards the river, identical swords gleaming in the moonlight. As they approached, Ty cringed.

"Oh gross! Do you smell that?"

"Definitely squid. Should be around here somewhere." Sky checked the river surface for signs of the slimy aquatic things. All seemed normal though.

"Don't see any over here. Maybe they were here earlier and left?" Ty suggested.

Sky shrugged. "No, they're definitely here. My amulet is glowing and everything-"

"Ah!" Ty slipped in a puddle of ink and landed on all fours. "Ow. Stupid squids…" Laughing, Sky offered to help him up, but Ty suddenly froze. "Behind you!"

Sky quickly turned, pulling out his sword out just in time to meet a squid who had hurled itself out of the water at him. Many others followed suit, splashing onto the bank and jumping on them.

"Hey Sky, whatcha doin?"

"Hey, hey, I'ma squid!"

Various voices arose from the mass of squids, in low, annoying tones.

_ There's so many of them!_ Sky struggled to think of a plan. He then remembered the small stick of TNT he had taken with him. Making eye contact with Ty, he pointed to it. Ty nodded, and slashed himself free. The two made a mad dash for the forest, throwing the TNT behind them. Sky and Ty were thrown to the ground as it exploded, completely blowing away the area. Everything was quiet. Looking back, there was a large crater by the river, now filling up to make a pond.

"You ok dude?" Ty asked, heaving.

"Hardly. I've never seen them try anything like that before! Even at night!" Sky was not used to the squids having plans or strategy; in the past, they had been very stupid. But apparently things had been changing.

"They must be getting smarter..." Ty determined, shaken.

Sky gulped. The fact that his worst enemies were not only growing in numbers, but getting smarter, was making him nervous. Dialing his phone, he called Jason.

"Jason, I'm startled."


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Finally, I introduce my OC, Nicki, with the same name as me. She isn't entirely based off of me, but I couldn't think of a better name.**

**Ch. 1**

Days later, in a village not too far away, Nicki was sharpening her sword. She had read in the newspaper about the squid attack on the river, and was getting prepared to move out. Sky had sent out drafts for an army to all of the towns in his kingdom.

She picked up her diamond sword, made from diamonds she had mined herself. Looking into the reflection, brown hair and green eyes stared back at her. _When I made this sword, I made it with the promise to use it for the greater good. Well, this is the greatest good I'll ever find._ She rose, now decided.

Quietly avoiding the village guards, she had crept her way into the forest. Looking through her bag, her hand touched the small budder ingot she had found on one mining trip. The yellow, shiny metal, called gold by some, but budder by Sky's people; it was almost as rare as diamonds, but treasured even more. It had been her good luck charm for the longest time, and she figured that it would now serve as her entry to be a recruit. _Besides,_ she reasoned, _nobody loves budder more than Sky!_

A loud explosion was heard in the distance. _What the…_She turned and ran to the source of it, gasping as she entered a clearing at the base of a plateau. It was the start of a long mountain chain that also held a spaceship landing pad. A rocket had missed its mark on the pad and crashed into the forest. Stumbling from the flaming rubble was Jason.

"Oh my gosh, are you ok?"

Jason usually never took off his thin, blue space suit, or his orange helmet, but his voice could be heard plainly due to a microphone inside.

"Yeah, ow. I don't know what happened. My radar signals were interrupted, and I couldn't get a constant reading to land." He looked around, confused. "Where's Sky and Ty? I told them I'd meet them here." Speak of the devil, Ty came running in, panic spread across his face.

"Jason! The castle is under attack!"

"What? How?"

"No time to explain! Come on!" Ty turned to Nicki and motioned. "You too! We'll need all the help we can get! Now hurry, they're gonna break through soon!"

"Who's 'they'?" The question answered itself as they reached the castle. Flying squids, smaller and shorter than their cousins of the sea, but just as deadly, with the ability to shoot flaming balls of fire, were attacking the castle. The front gates were entirely blown away.

"We need to take these guys one-on-one." Ty pulled out his sword, and Jason did likewise. "Uh, you," He turned to Nicki, "go inside and see if you can help Sky."

Nicki nodded and raced through the front gates, gasping at the enormity of it all. Black and gold banners hung on the columns, while paintings ran along the walls, depicting Sky's friends. It was an awe-inspiring structure.

"Hey you!" Sky shouted from the top of the main staircase, bow pointed at her. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm here to join your army as a recruit." Nicki wasn't sure to be honored or terrified that her idol was threatening her.

"How do I know that you aren't a squid spy?" Sky came down, still aiming.

_Oh geez, um..._ She reached into her bag and pulled out her piece of budder. Sky's expression changed from hostile to understanding. A squid could never get a hold of something as precious as budder. He took it and placed it in his pocket.

"Right then. Take this. I'll see if I can get close enough to take them down." Sky handed her a bow and arrows and charged over. Jumping up, he grabbed a chandelier and swung back and forth, fighting his way through the advancing squids.

Outside, Ty and Jason were making quick work of the enemies. Jason used his jetpack to launch himself up with Ty on his back, and the two plowed through them. The three friends seemed to have almost a telepathic understanding of who was doing what, more than likely from their many years as friends and allies.

Inside however, Nicki was a decent shot with a bow, but preferred her sword better. Throwing it aside, she pulled out her diamond sword and charged at them. Once the threat had been eliminated from the inside, she went to see where Sky had gone. She looked down the hallways, but nobody was there. Returning to the front entrance, she saw Sky then by the doors, being strangled by a squid.

"Sky! Don't move!" She shot an arrow at the squid, and it flopped on the ground lifeless.

"Uh thanks. That little jerk flew at me while my back was turned." Coming outside, the remaining forces were retreating. Sky joined Jason and Ty and high-fived them.

"Good to see you Jason! Sorry for the informal welcome, but I had my hands full for a while."

"I can see that. What happened?" Jason asked.

"I have no idea. I've never seen squids like this before. I got into a bit of a tight spot, but luckily," He nodded to Nicki, "I had a little help."

"Yeah, who are you anyway?" Ty asked, turning to her.

"I'm Nicki, and I am now Sky's recruit."

"Ah, so Sky does have an army. It's about time." Jason shook his head. "I'd invite my Stars to assist you, but they're just as occupied with the mob situation. It seems like the hostile mobs spawn twice as quickly at night than usual."

"Same here. My Dead Army has been up to their elbows lately with the population of creepers." Ty cleaned off his sword. 'Creepers' were green figures that explode if you come near them, with a nasty habit of popping out of nowhere.

"Well what are we going to do about it then?" Nicki piped in.

"That's the thing." Jason determined. "This all can't be natural; something or someone had to have teamed up with the squids on this. Someone with a lot of power over the night."

Sky went pale. "You don't mean..."

"Yeah. Herobrine."

**Gotta love cliffhangers, right?**


	3. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2 Plan of Action**

"But if the squids and Herobrine are responsible for all this, how are we going to find Herobrine? He could be anywhere." Sky protested.

"But, we do have one way of finding out where he is." Ty looked over at Jason.

"What?" Jason shrugged innocently.

"You made a Herobrine tracker, didn't you?"

"Yeah, at one point, but I'm fairly certain it got destroyed when I crash-landed."

"Could you make another one?"

"Sure, but I'd need the materials."

"We can go and gather them. Just tell us what you need."

Jason thought hard. "Well, for the inner-works, I'd need two diamonds and six iron ingots."

"I've got those." Ty nodded.

"Some stone..."

"Too easy." Sky laughed.

"And soul sand."

"Wait what?" Sky stopped. "Soul sand, as in the stuff from the Nether?" The Nether was their world's version of Hell, with lava and dangerous mobs running rampant. If you were foolish enough to go there, you'd better have a dang good reason.

"Yeah, I'll need about a handful's worth of it. That won't be a problem, right?"

"Nope," Sky lied, gulping on the inside, "I'll go now."

"Take your recruit with you. She'll need the experience." Ty suggested.

"Gotcha," Sky waved, "see you all soon."

Nicki followed Sky through the castle, until they reached a door marked: 'Nether: Danger!' He opened the door, and revealed a tall black portal with a purple wall of energy inside it. "Ok, we'll need to get in, and get out as soon as possible."

"Right."

"And whatever you do, don't upset the zombie pigmen! On the count of three. One," Sky counted down, "two, three!"

They jumped in, and hovered in space for a moment, before flying out onto the hot, red ground. Nicki looked up, and saw endless rivers and seas of lava. She couldn't put into words how cool and terrifying it looked. Getting up, she turned to Sky. He motioned towards one of the lava oceans, where brownish-red sand was formed like a beach. In the air, large white, jellyfish-like creatures called ghasts floated about. _Don't want one of them to see us._

Sky ducked suddenly, just missing a fireball. A blaze, a golden flying creature, had just spotted them. "I've had it up to here with fireballs today. Run!" Sky and Nicki darted for the 'ocean', ducking and jumping as multiple blazes joined in and shot at them. Sky scooped up the sand and put it in his pocket. "Ok, got it! Now let's get out of here!" Both turning, they saw that they were cornered. Nether mobs stood in their way, threateningly glaring. The two exchanged looks, and simultaneously got out their swords. Sky jumped into the fray, and was about to finish off a blaze when he turned and accidentally struck a zombie pigman. "Uh-oh..." Simultaneously, all the pigmen in the area swarmed Sky. With the massive group looming over him, the spiteful mobs pounced.

Hearing his yells, Nicki ran over, slashing at one. "Get off 'em!" The pigmen all turned their attention to her with the same vengeance and got jumped almost as quickly. Taking multiple blows from various weapons at once, her only defense was to cover her head and take the hits. _Do I die like this? Getting trampled by pigmen?_ A firm hand grabbed her arm, and she saw Sky pulling her from the crowd. She met his sprint and booked it from there. Leaping through the portal, the two landed sprawled out on the ground, beat but safe. Ty, who had been waiting outside the door, burst in.

"What in Notch's name happened?" Ty gasped, helping them up.

"I broke my one Nether rule. I can take the blame this time." Sky replied, heaving.

"Oh wow, there must have been a lot of 'em!" Ty looked them over. "Go freshen up, and then come to the landing pad. Jason''s almost done with the tracker and needs that sand to finish it."

As they went to the bedroom wing of the castle, Sky tried to find the words. "Uh, thanks for what you did back there."

"Honestly, I should be the one thanking you. You could've just left me there, but you didn't."

Sky didn't respond, but opened the door to one of the rooms. "There should be some clothes in there to change into. I'll meet you at the doors." He shuffled away, blushing.

Nicki went into the small guest bedroom. Peeking in a closet, she found an outfit; a blue shirt and jeans. She had just finished changing, when she noticed a something lying on the bottom of the closet. It was an amulet, smaller than Sky's but almost identical, with the center being made of emerald instead of amethyst. The color matched her eyes. She picked it up and put it on. It pulsed slightly, making her jump. _That's weird. I'll have to ask Sky about this._

Like he had said, Sky was waiting at the front doors, adjusting a crooked painting. "Good, you're ready to go. Let's head..." Sky stopped as he turned to see her, his eyes resting on the small amulet. Speechless, he stumbled, "W-where did you get that?"

"I found it in that room you showed me. Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just that...I haven't seen it since..." Sky shook his head. "Never mind. Let's go. Ty and Jason are waiting."

They found Jason at the landing pad, kneeling over a small iron box about the size of a cell phone. Looking up, he laughed, "Ah, good, you're back! And not dead!" Sky handed him the sand, and Jason added the finishing touches to the box. "Ta-da!" The others stared blankly at it.

"Uh, how does it work?" Sky finally asked.

Jason picked it up and demonstrated. "You hit this little green button, and it will pull up this map that points to where Herobrine is if he is in the area. Simple!"

"Well, we'd better start looking before he starts causing any more trouble." Ty took it and examined the screen. "That's weird. It says Herobrine is close by, as in a couple feet away. Jason, are you sure you programmed this right?"

Suddenly, Herobrine teleported in front of them, grabbed Sky, and flashed away before they could move. "SKY!" They rushed forward, but were too late. He was gone.


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Here we see a bunch of new youtubers appearing, two scenes simultaneously happening at once, and a whole ton of dialogue. If you guys see something that could be better, or have any suggestions, please send in a review! I could definitely use them.**

**Ch. 3**

"Sky…" Nicki whimpered, staring at the spot on the ground.

"Ok, calm down. Let's try not to panic." Jason tried to soothe, but failed, as he was shaking.

"Are you nuts? Sky's been taken! Captured!" Ty shouted, briskly pacing. Tears were forming in his eyes. "They'll probably torture him. Who knows what all they could be doing to him now?"

"Sky wouldn't have wanted us to lose our heads, so let's try and think." Jason took out the tracker. "Herobrine isn't one to act without a practical goal in mind, so they must have taken him to interrogate him or some such thing. Sky's a tough nut to crack, so that might give us some time to find him." He sighed. "He's out of range. We'll need to walk around to get a signal."

Ty pulled himself together and grabbed his sword. "Ok. Let's move out!"

* * *

Sky groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. _What happened last night?_ Blinking, he saw that he was in a metal cage. _Typical._ Beyond there, he could see he was in a large room, dimly lit by torches. Surrounding him on all sides was water, squids and all. _This doesn't look good._ Herobrine spawned in front of him, floating.

"Oh! What do you want?" Sky jumped, irritated. Herobrine stood motionless, not speaking. His turquoise shirt and dark blue pants were the typical outfit for a miner, but what set him apart was his eyes. They were completely white; no pupils. He was a creepy sight to see. The horrifying stories told about him had been commonly dismissed as rumors, but he was obviously real, floating before Sky in the flesh- er, spirit.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jason, Ty, and Nicki were wandering around, not making much progress in their search. Ty was trying everything; climbing up trees, under logs, anything; but 'twas all in vain because they couldn't get a reading.

_ If only we had some help doing this…_ Nicki thought sadly. _At this rate, we'll find Sky in ashes._ A rustle in the trees above caught her attention. She froze, and got out her sword quietly. She looked up and saw a small shadow in the branches. In one fluid motion, she threw her sword up at it, causing the branch to snap and send the figure down to the ground.

It was a mudkip, a tiny blue creature with orange fins on its cheeks, from another land called Pokemon. This species of Pokemon had the power of water to control at will.

Quickly picking up her sword, Nicki pointed it at the mudkip. "Why are you following us? Answer now!" She snapped. The mudkip squeaked and looked around, speechless and panicked. Two other figures then dropped down from the trees, one a boy in a red plaid hoodie and jeans, and the other a hairy creature resembling Chewbacca wearing a black tuxedo. They both wielded axes and stood before the mudkip defensively.

"Nicki! Stop!" Jason and Ty called, noticing what was happening and running over. "They're our friends!"

"They are?" Nicki put away her sword and looked at them questioningly. Ty and Jason went to the three and greeted them happily.

"It's great to see you all!" Ty smiled, "It looks like the squids haven't gotten to you guys yet."

"What do you mean? What's happened?" The boy asked.

Jason shook his head. "Herobrine has joined with the squids and captured Sky."

"What?" The bacca gasped, "How?"

"No time for details now; we're trying to find Herobrine with this." Ty held up the tracker.

"Ok, so who's the chick?" The boy asked again.

Jason turned to her. "This is Nicki. She is Sky's recruit."

"Ah, ok." The mudkip nodded, acknowledging her. "Well, I'm Quintin, formally (do-dodo!) HuskyMudkipz. Nice to meet you!" Nicki shook hands with him (as well as a human and a mudkip could shake hands).

"I'm BajanCanadian, but you can call me Mitch." The boy in red followed.

"And I'm Jerome, but you can call me Fluffy, and give me a belly rub." The furry creature smiled and patted her head.

Quintin examined the tracker in his tiny blue paws and frowned. "Not enough TNT." He had almost an unhealthy habit of blowing things up with explosives in his free time.

Jason sighed. "Quintin, not everything has to have TNT in it."

"No, really, if you put some gunpowder in with the inside machinery, you'd get a much larger scanning range." Quintin hopped into Mitch's bag and came out with a stick of TNT. Breaking off a piece, he sprinkled the inside of the tracker with the powder. Almost instantly, the tracker zoomed out and showed the entire region on the screen.

"Oh, I'd have never thought of that…" Jason muttered, impressed.

"Hey, TNT isn't just for wrecking stuff."

Ty jumped excitedly as he watched the screen. "There! In the jungle biome! That's where Herobrine is!" With that, the group took off in the direction of the jungle, the three others joining them.

* * *

_ What's caused Herobrine to join the squids?_ Sky wondered. _He's independent, and doesn't hold grudges often. Normally he'd just grief people's houses and move on._

Sky muttered angrily, "The squids must have done something to him."

"Quite right." Sky turned suddenly and saw a squid, in human form. It had arms and legs, but also tentacles as extra appendages, and the same derpy eyes. Sky didn't have to ask to know that this was the squid who had arranged all this. "Hello SkyDoesMinecraft."

"What do you want from me?" Sky snapped. "Why did you drag me out here?"

"Information. You'll tell me all about your kingdom; secret passages, weaknesses in the foundation and outer walls; everything. And if you cooperate, we'll let you go so you can see the true power of the Squid Army as we destroy your kingdom and its people."

"You can never destroy us! The Sky Army will always live on, and I would never stoop so low as to betray them." Sky challenged.

"You speak nobly, but what about at the cost of someone you know?" He clapped his hands, and Herobrine spawned a cage next to his.

"...what?" Sky gasped as he recognized who was in it. The boy was a younger than Sky, around 16, wearing glasses, a red and white striped shirt and blue shorts, and a blue cape that matched his. "Einshine!"

"Sky!" Einshine lunged forward and gripped the bars of his cage. Einshine had been a good friend of Sky's for a while, and was practically Sky's apprentice as far as experience goes. He had a bubbly personality was almost contagious, and an equally strong love of pumpkin pie. Like Herobrine, Einshine's eyes lacked pupils and were fully white, and this similarity sometimes caused Herobrine and him to become allies and almost friends in certain situations. But now, it did not seem so.

Herobrine grabbed Einshine by the collar and held him high above the water. "Aaaah! Sky! Help!"

"Stop! Don't hurt him!" Sky cried desperately.

"So, you see finally see the situation we have here." The squid grinned. "Are you now willing to comply?"

Sky groaned, his head down, and nodded slowly.

"Very good. Bring down the boy." Herobrine hovered over to Sky's cage, and dropped him down.

"Sky! What are you doing?" Einshine said.

"I'm sorry," Sky reached out and touched his shoulder. "but I can't let something happen to you on my part."

"But what about your kingdom? What about their lives that are at stake now?"

"Just don't worry," Sky replied in a whisper and a wink, "I'm gonna get you out of here. I've got a plan."

"Oh Sky, I hope you know what you're doing here..."

"But," The squid added, "just so you don't have any trickery planned..." He nodded at Herobrine, who suddenly sucker-punched Einshine to the ground, KOing him in an instant.

"EINSHINE!" Sky shouted, staring at his limp body. "Einshine, say something!"

"He's been knocked unconscious by a special move of Herobrine's; a poison jab. Painful, yes. But curable, only if you do as I ask and comply. Are we clear?"

Sky glared at the squid with a hate he had never felt before. _You can capture me, attack me, and even steal my butter, but nobody messes with my friends._


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: My gosh, I'm just humbled by all of the views this story has gotten (over 200)! Also, I finally have a title to the story! Yaaay! Credit goes to my little sister on that one. As always, please leave reviews and suggestions on how my chapters can be better. Thanks, I appreciate it!**

**On a side note, do any of you play the Minecraft Pocket Edition? I don't have the PC version (I know, shocker) at my house, so the app on my iPod is my only opportunity to play. Have you heard about the newest update coming up? They're going to add mine carts and a ton of other cool stuff! I'm pumped about it!**

**Not a lot of action in this chapter, I apologize, but a load of back story. There might be tears too...  
**

**Ch. 4**

"So, how did you guys meet in the first place?" Nicki asked the group. She seemed to notice that Mitch was a realistic, logical thinker, while Jerome was a more carefree, impulsive person like Quintin.

"Well," Mitch giggled, smiling, "When I was a little kid, I got picked on for being too skinny. They'd call me string bean and stuff like that. Jerome saw me getting beat up one day and chased them off."

"They were scared-er than a cat in a doghouse!" Jerome laughed.

Once they knew where they were going, it did not take the group long to get to the source of the signal. In the cool night air under the tall jungle trees, they looked around for where Herobrine supposedly was. But there was nothing there but a pond and trees.

"But...he's got to be here..." Ty said, checking the tracker.

"Maybe you should re-calibrate that thing." Mitch sighed.

"It doesn't work that way." Jason explained, taking it. "It follows a direct signal that comes from the person, and according to this, he's in the pond. Is that right?"

"Well, he might not be in the pond, but under it." Nicki suggested.

"Good idea! But what could be down there?" Jerome asked.

"You don't have to tell me twice. Geronimo!" Quintin dived into the pond as naturally as a bird in the sky. After a few moments, he surfaced. "You guys might want to check this out." He motioned them to come, and went down again.

"Uh-oh..." Nicki could already tell that this would not end well.

The pond's waters were relatively clear and gave it a shallow appearance, but as they sunk deeper and deeper down into the dark, it seemed like it would never end.

The group was losing oxygen quick (except Jason with his spacesuit), and Quintin tried his best to keep them going. When it seemed like they would all suffocate, the water suddenly stopped beneath them, and they flopped to the ground, gasping.

"Where...the heck..." Ty panted.

"Is this area bewitched?" Mitch muttered. "How does this make sense?" Just above them, the pond water stopped like a wall.

"This must be it then." Jason determined. "We're really close. Get ready." They got out their weapons and headed down a damp tunnel. The air was heavy with the scent of squid. Finally reaching the end, they found themselves at an underground lake.

"This is defying all logic..." Mitch shook his head.

"Who cares about logic?" Jerome urged. "There's an island in the middle; let's go!" They found boats on a dock, and quickly shoved off on them. The darkness around them was eerie, and so was the black water they paddled in. As they grew nearer, two cages became visible, but had no one inside them.

"Now this is messing with my head." Jerome was puzzled. "Who makes a secret underground base with cages and everything, but leaves it abandoned? What does the tracker say?"

Jason turned it on, but frowned. "No reception down here. Too far down to get a signal."

"Great."

Nicki examined the cage nearest them. It had been obviously broken out of, and the door was found in pieces yards away from there. As she picked up the shattered lock, she shuttered.

"What's up Nicki?" Ty asked.

"I don't know; it feels like this area is significant somehow. It fact, I know it is." _What is it that I'm sensing?_

"Hey, what's going on with your necklace there?" Jerome noticed, pointing. Her small amulet was glowing.

"What is this...?" She suddenly felt a pull towards the opposite shore. _Sky? Is that you?_ "Follow me!"

With new found hope, she paddled as fast as she could towards the shore on the other side. Her feeling had been correct; there was Sky, dueling with Herobrine and the squid.

"Mitch! Shoot 'em!" Jerome said. Mitch stood up in their boat and drew his bow. With the eye of an archer, he shot down the squid, and it flopped lifeless into the water. Herobrine, seeing this, vanished instantly.

Sky turned, awe-struck. "Guys?"

"Sky!" The group jumped their boats and swarmed him, glad to finally see him okay.

"How did you guys find me?" Sky asked.

"The tracker got us to here." Jason explained.

"And Nicki went the rest of the way." Jerome added, nodding to her.

She pointed to her amulet. "It started glowing when we got to your cage."

Sky stared, about to say something, but then rushed away in a hurry to the unconscious form of Einshine.

"Is that Einshine?" Jerome gasped. "What's he doing here?"

"They brought him here as a hostage, so that I might tell them about how to invade my kingdom."

"Well, did you say anything?" Mitch asked.

"*Sigh*...no. But Herobrine still did this to him, and I don't know how to break him out of it." Einshine was breathing normally, but twitched and cringed as if in pain. "Well, regardless, we need to get the heck out of here and see if we can fix him." Sky picked him up and set him in a boat.

"Hey Sky," Ty asked as they shoved off, "where'd you get that sword?"

"Huh? This?" Sky suddenly recognized that he had a shining butter sword at his waist.

"Did you have it with you when they took you?"

"No...all I remember is seeing Einshine go down, and being outside my cage with this sword in my hand." Nicki took the strangely light sword in her hands, and felt a strong power emit from the blade. _I've never seen butter this strong before._

"Ok, hold up." Mitch stopped. "Are you saying that you somehow went into this 'avatar state', blew out of your cage and spawned a sword?"

"Apparently, yes."

"_How_?"

"I don't know..." He looked at his amulet, still glowing. Turning to Nicki, he saw that hers was reacting similar. "What exactly happened when you got here?"

"Well," Nicki said, "when we got to your cage," she pointed as they passed the island, "my amulet started glowing and pulsing. Immediately I sensed that you were nearby, and followed that feeling to where you were." She nodded at the shattered lock on the ground.

_A tracker? I don't remember it behaving like that._ Sky sat deep in thought, troubled.

"Sky?" Nicki asked, suspicious, "Where did this amulet come from?" She held the emerald/butter necklace in her hands.

Sky gave in and sighed. "It was before this war with the squids_, before my kingdom, before I was friends with any of you. I was just a little kid trying to get along in the wild. Then I met Taylor. He kinda took me under his wing and taught me how to survive. We would explore everywhere, and he'd teach me how to mine, parkour, and to defend myself against mobs. Growing up, we were like brothers. We fashioned matching medals and even dressed the same._

_"While we were mining one day, we came across this abandoned underground castle. Naturally, we claimed it and searched around for treasure. In one of the rooms was a strange green and purple portal with lava underneath it. Even Taylor didn't know what it was. I insisted that we see what was on the other side, and we jumped in. If we had known that it was the End, we would've never tried going in." He paused, tears streaming down his face. "The dragon came too quick for us to dodge. It blasted a bunch of fire at us, and Taylor told me to run. I didn't want to leave him, so I pulled him along with me. Just as we reached the portal again, the dragon shot a fireball that hit Taylor. We went through the portal and traveled back, and he fell to the ground. 'Taylor!' I gasped. 'Are you ok?'_

_'I'm afraid I won't make it little buddy. I've taught you everything I know.' He told me in a whisper._

_'But you can't leave! I'll be lost without you…' I bent over him and hugged him tight._

_'You'll know what to do. You're a smart kid.' He handed me his amulet, and smiled at me. I'll never forget what he then told me. 'Never stop believing that the sky is not the limit.'"_

The group reached the shore and got out of their boats, leaving the dark cave.

"Gee Sky, I never knew…" Mitch shook his head. Nicki looked at the amulet she held and wore it with more importance than before.

"Who was this 'Taylor'?" Jason asked. "Did he have a nickname?"

Sky nodded and stared into space. "They called him AntVenom."

**Sorry AntVenom fans...**


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Do I even have to mention the views? Good grief it's incredible!**  
**Anyway, this chapter was very fun to write and had me laughing the entire time, so hopefully I at least got a smile out of you.**  
**Also, I regret to inform you that because I am human, I am subject to periods of writer's block. I haven't gotten it yet, but it might happen sometime in the future, so I apologize in advance if this story becomes inactive for a bit.**  
**Oh, and if you are wondering about SSundee, don't worry, I haven't forgotten him. He'll come. ;)**  
**Ch. 5**  
After leaving (and at the urging of Quintin, exploding of) the hidden base, they decided to regroup back at Sky's castle. Gathered in the official assembly room, the members of Team Crafted, the six friends who formed this age-old alliance against any threat in Minecraft, gathered around a long table and sat in chairs marked with their names.  
"How long has it been since we've had a Team Crafted meeting?" Jason sighed, remembering the old days.  
"Ok, let's call this meeting to order." Sky said, banging a little wolden hammer. "I love this thing."  
"Wait, where's the Mudkip?" Mitch asked, looking at his vacant seat. Quintin strolled in moments later, wearing a tiny grey tuxedo. He sat down, folding his arms with swagger.  
"Uh...what's with the tux?" Ty stared questioningly.  
"You jealous?" Jerome copied him, smiling. "Lookin' good, little homie."  
"Um, anyway," Sky continued, "We all know that something must be done about the impending squid strike. The problem is, we have no idea what to do next. Einshine still needs to be healed, and we don't even know the location of the squids that are leading this attack."  
"My guess would be the squid realm. It's the only place that we don't have monitored." Ty suggested.  
"But it has been ages since we've been to that god-forsaken place, and for all we know, the portal to go there might not exist anymore." Mitch countered.  
"That's never stopped us before." Sky said.  
"It would take forever to find the portal, on top of trying to heal Einshine, and we just don't have that kind of time." Jason pointed out. "The squids could strike at any moment."  
"Well, let's split up the jobs to cut the time in half." Jerome stated. "Sky, Jason, Ty; you guys go find the portal. Me, Mitch and Quintin will figure out a cure. Sound like a plan?"  
"Couldn't have said it better myself buddy." Mitch agreed.  
"Ok, but I have one question." Quintin asked. "Where's Nicki?"  
"Oh, I sent her on a little assignment." Sky answered.

* * *

********* Earlier that day…***********  
"Are you sure you trust me with your horse?" Nicki asked, mounting Sky's cream-colored horse, Seabiscuit. Sky was sending Nicki off to find more recruits for his army, so they will be ready with backup when the squids do come.  
"Of course! There's no one I'd rather trust."  
"I just don't know if I can do this..."  
"Hey now, listen. You are capable of so much; you just haven't tried yet." Sky looked at her amulet and smiled. "Like my buddy Ant used to say, the sky is not the limit, and I believe that. Jason has a base on the moon for Notch's sake! Just remember, never stop fighting for what you believe, and as long as your intentions are good, things will always turn out okay."  
Reassured, Nicki nodded. "Don't worry Sky, I'll find recruits worthy of Sky Army! I promise!" She picked up her reins and steered Seabiscuit away from the castle and off towards the nearest town.

* * *

After Jason, Ty, and Sky had left the castle, the other three remained to brainstorm how one might cure a poison-like coma. Unfortunately, no book in Sky's library offered such a title.  
"Well, now what? We're back at square one again." Mitch sighed.  
"When I'm in a quandry, I simply wonder: WWKD?" Quintin offered.  
"Huh?"  
"What Would Kermit Do?"  
"_That's it!_" Jerome shouted, jumping out of his chair. "We'll go ask Kermit the Hermit! Surely he'll know what to do!"  
"Am I the only one out of the loop here?" Mitch stood, confused. "Who is this 'Kermit the Hermit'?"  
"He's a very wise frog." Jerome explained.

"After wanting to seek enlightenment," Quintin added, "he retreated to a secluded pond deep in the mountains, pondering all of life's questions."

Mitch stared at them. "Are you guys on something that I should know about?"  
"Come on! We'll take you to him!" Jerome threw the still dead-to-the-world Einshine over his shoulder, and they proceeded to drag Mitch out of the castle.  
After a perilous journey through the rocky cliffs that isn't worth describing, they finally reached a tall waterfall flowing from a mountain.  
"It's behind there." Quintin pointed to the falling water. "We'll have to jump through it."  
"Honestly, are you guys out of your minds?" Mitch exclaimed.  
"Come on, trust me. I've never led you astray before, have I?" Jerome persuaded. "Besides, why would all of us do something stupid if we were just trolling you?"  
"Because that's what you do!"  
"Nevermind, let's go! One two three go!" The three simultaneously jumped towards the waterfall, crashing through the wall of water and landing on a platform on the other side.  
"WOO-HOO! Wasn't that fun?" Jerome exclaimed, shaking his wet fur like a dog.  
"If by fun you mean having my life flash before my eyes, than that was gangs of fun!" Mitch shook his head sarcastically, though he was silently impressed by how concealed this secret area was.  
They went down the damp cavern to find a small pond, adorned with ivy and lily pads. Sitting on a large one in the center was a green frog in a white suit, sitting in a meditating position.  
"Welcome BajanCanadian, HuskyMudkipz, and ASFJerome." The frog addressed. Looking towards Jerome and Quintin, he winked. "Nice tuxedos my friends."  
"Thank you Kermit sir." Quintin stepped forward. "We have come seeking your guidance." He went on to explain all that had happened.  
"Well, if it is a cure you seek, then look no further than its prompter." Kermit answered.  
"Uh...I may be Canadian, but they speak English too, so can someone please tell me what the heck he just said?" Mitch groaned.  
"He's saying to make peace with Herobrine." Jerome whispered.  
"Ok, I give. I've had enough insanity for one sitting."  
"Before you go Mitch." Kermit called. Mitch stopped and looked over his shoulder.  
"Life is like a river. It can be fast, slow, and can twist in many directions, but you cannot change the way it flows. Do not try to alter its path, because you will not profit from the consequences."  
Mitch flipped up the hood on his jacket. "Cool story bro, tell me another one." He then proceeded to jump back across the waterfall.  
"He is not in the way of the tux then?" Kermit assumed.  
"Shun the nonbeliever dude, that's all I have to say." Jerome shrugged.  
"Thank you for your wisdom, good and kind frog. We will leave you to your peace now." They bowed respectfully, and the two exited. Joining Mitch, they frowned at him.  
"That was no way to talk to a wise scholar!" Quintin scolded.  
"I think we need to send you to obedience school." Jerome added.  
Mitch did not reply, but looked straight ahead, frozen.  
"Hello? Mitch? We're talking to you!"  
They turned to see what he was looking at, and stared in shock.  
"What in the..."


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Haha, sorry to leave you hanging guys; that last cliffhanger was mean. I hope you all had an awesome Christmas, New Years, and all that good stuff. I want to apologize for such a long wait. Like I said in the previous chapter, procrastination and writer's block happens to everyone, and it doesn't help when FF decides to glitch out multiple days in a row.  
A couple things here that I need to mention:**

**-I understand that some of the characters might not sound completely like their real life counterparts, but I have an excuse for that. I don't like swearing or inappropriate jokes, and the members of TC tend to do that a lot, so I will omit that just for this story. Also for this story, I had to change their personalities or traits a little bit to put in some foil (literary term) or just to keep things interesting, so sorry if I trample on your favorite youtuber's glory because of that. It will all work out in the end, I promise. ;)  
-This story has over 1,000 views! It's a big milestone for me, and I never expected this piece of junk to get any attention, so thank you for all for reading! I made a IRL journal in celebration of it if you want to go check it out on my page, channel, profile, whatever you want to call it.  
Gosh dang that's a lot of notes. Anyway, enjoy, leave a review if you want (they help a lot), and have a great day!  
**

**Ch. 6**  
Floating before them was Herobrine, though he didn't appear angry or even malicious. In fact, he looked sad.  
"Speak of the devil…" Mitch muttered. "Hey Herobrine, we've got a bone to pick with you!"  
Jerome shushed him. "Herobrine, are you here to heal Shine?"  
Herobrine didn't say a word, but slightly nodded his head. Jerome laid Einshine down on the ground, and they ran to take cover behind some boulders. Herobrine came over and knelt down beside his unconscious friend, obviously guilty for what the squids had made him do. He moved his hand over the kid, and the curse was immediately lifted. Coughing back to life, Shine looked up and saw the ghostly figure above him.  
"H-herobrine?" He squinted as his vision came back. His work there being done, Herobrine smiled and teleported away in a swirl of purple, leaving fire in his place.  
"Nice to see you back in the land of the living." Quentin greeted, coming out.  
"Whoa! Jerome, Mitch, Quentin? What are you doing here?" Shine stuttered, honored to see them.  
"The squids are at it again, but you probably already know that." Mitch answered.  
"The guys are off trying to find the squid dimension, so we should hustle back and try to catch up with them." Jerome said.  
With that, the group rose to leave the cliffs. Behind them, Kermit watched them go. "Good luck my friends. May the power of budder prevail you."

* * *

The trio began their search for the portal by going to a nearby kingdom of Sky's to ask people if they knew anything. As they passed through the village streets, citizens gathered to cheer and get a glimpse of them.

"It's like they think we're heroes or something." Jason mused, waving at the crowds.

Sky caught sight of a tavern up ahead. "Maybe someone there will know. Wait here; I'll be back in a minute."

Jason and Ty stood outside, watching the villagers pack up their trading supplies as the sun set.  
"Why do you figure so many people like Adam?" Ty asked.  
"Probably 'cause he's so relatable." Jason figured. "He went through the same problems these guys do. I mean, I grew up on the moon, so I wouldn't know..." Jason looked up at the moon, rising proudly into the sky. "I miss my Stars. I hope they're doing okay..."  
Ty laughed. "Jeffery'll take care of them."  
Sky came out, looking pleased.  
"Find any leads?" Ty asked.  
"No, but check out who I found!" Sky motioned to the door, where a man dressed in all black, shades, and sporting a beard came walking out. It was their long-lost member of Team Crafted, formally called Ssundee.  
"Ian?" Ty gasped. "We thought you were dead! Where've you been?" Ian had left for an extended mining trip, but when the team could not get a hold of him for months, they had to assume the worst.  
"Haha, sorry if I made you doods worry," Ssundee laughed. "but I ran into some trouble during my trip. The mine collapsed on top of me, and it took forever to dig myself out. Oh, and I heard about your little problem with the squids Sky, and I thought you might need these." Ian got out his mining bag and showed them his finds; many ingots of iron and gold, and multiple diamonds as well.  
"Oh wow Ian..." Sky was speechless and in awe. "Thanks! Combined with the stuff I have back at the castle, we could make plenty of weapons and armor with these!"  
"So it's official then? You're going to war with the squids?"  
"What else can we do?" Sky shrugged. "I'd prefer to be passive-aggressive on things like this, but they left us no choice after all that they've done already." The three managed to fill Ian in on what all had happened.  
"Wow, so those squids have been getting smarter..." Ian paced back and forth. "So you have no idea where to look?"  
"Nope. It's been ages since we've tried going there." Sky answered, recalling when he had stumbled upon it during a gold speed run. He ended up being captured, but got a glimpse at the armada the squids had been preparing. It wasn't good.  
"I think we could be of assistance." Jerome and the others came up to them randomly.  
"Wha…? How did you guys find us so quickly?" Jason asked, confused.  
"Power moves only, dude." Jerome replied, fist-bumping Mitch. "Oh hey Ian! Eyes still derped up?"  
"The same." Ian nodded.  
"Anyway, Einshine told us something from when he was in his coma that I think you might want to hear." Einshine peeked out from behind them and gasped as he saw the other members of Team Crafted. He couldn't believe his luck.  
"Uh, yeah, when I was out," Shine explained, "I could see Herobrine's thoughts. I saw what the squids were planning to do. They're going to flood the world." They were speechless. If they could pull that off, the squids would control everything. A very cliche plan, but still devastating. "And for just a second, I saw their portal, but I didn't recognize what the location was."

"Can you describe it? Maybe one of us will recognize it." Ty asked.  
Shine closed his eyes and tried to picture it again. "It was a huge circular clearing in a forest, with glowstone markers around the outside and a platform in the middle with chests."  
"THE HUNGER GAMES CORNUCOPIA!" Mitch and Jerome shouted simultaneously. The two of them had an unparalleled love of The Hunger Games, and liked to pretend they were contestants and play the game themselves with some of their friends. Never literally though. They built this arena a bit away from their lumber shack in the woods they lived in.  
"Yeah, that's it! It's buried directly under the cornucopia." Shine confirmed.  
"I guess all we need to do now is prepare. Who knows, we might already be too late, but we've got to try. Let's get moving back to the castle and we'll plan on the way." Sky determined. "Oh yeah, and Shine?"  
"Yes Sky?"  
"It's good to have you back buddy." With that, the group left the village.

In the shadows, a squid/human scout watched them from the sea and scurried back into the sea to report. It knelt before it's master, the squid overlord.  
"So, they now know our plot." The overlord thought. "That dunce Jackel failed us and allowed the prisoners to escape _and_ himself to get shot, but plan B will not end this way. Send out the soldiers for Operation Freaky Friday. And hire someone else to name these missions!"


End file.
